All students who intend to graduate from Rowan University with a B.A. in History need to fulfill History program requirements and earn at least 120 credits. Of course students with coordinate majors and students working towards certification need to fulfill
those requirements as well. Keep in mind that you need a 2.5 History G.P.A and 2.0 overall G.P.A. to graduate.STUDY HARD NOW; if your overall or history G.P.A. is too low, you will have to retake courses to improve your G.P.A. Since some history courses are only offered every few semesters,
having to retake a course could seriously delay your graduation.

Students should try to construct their schedules so that they take some electives and some History courses each semester. Since upper level history courses typically require A LOT of reading and 10-15 page research papers, plan your schedule so that you
do not have to take more than two upper level history courses in a semester.

All students should see their advisor regularly; preferably every semester but at least once per year. Advisors are assigned to freshmen and incoming transfer by last name; to find out who is your advisor, see the Advisement Chart on the History Department
website,
http://www.rowan.edu/colleges/chss/departments/history/current/index.html (click “Advisement Information”). This chart is also posted in the department. Once you have been assigned an advisor, you don’t need to switch until you become a senior;
ALL SENIORS NEED TO SEE DR. BLAKE!Transfer students who begin at Rowan with 75 credits or more should also see Dr. Blake as their advisor.

Each semester, faculty office hours are posted on the department website and in the department; you may email to make an appointment or just come in during the hours listed.

Communications: Students should take Communications courses, Composition I, Composition II, and
Public Speaking, ASAP. These courses teach basic writing and communication skills that will help you perform well in your other classes. In addition,
Composition II is a prerequisite for Historical Methods.

Economics, Political Science, and Geography/Anthropology:Students may take any course in Economics, Political Science, and Geography/Anthropology
that is approved for the Social & Behavioral Gen Ed bank (for a list of approved courses, follow instructions listed in “Science and Math” above).
Courses that fulfill this requirement for Political Science include American Government and Contemporary World Problems.
Please note that Survey of Western Political Theory and State and Local Government
do NOT fulfill this requirement.

Note that the Geography/Anthropology course must be designated M/G (Multicultural/Global) in the catalog; i.e.
Geography of US and Canada does NOT fulfill this requirement.

Readings in Non-Western Literature:Students must take Readings in Non-Western Literature. Students pursuing a concentration in Asian Studies may take
Readings in Asian Literatures instead.

Foreign Languages:All students must take two semesters of the same foreign language. Students who have passed second semester
college level study of a language (e.g. Spanish II) are exempted from this requirement, though they are strongly encouraged to continue with a second year of language study.

Artistic and Creative Experience (ACE) course:Students may take any course designated as “Artistic and Creative Expression” (for a list of approved courses, follow instructions listed in “Science and Math” above); we recommend that students take
Art Appreciation or Music Appreciation.

--Students must take Western
Civto 1660, Western Civ since 1660ORWorld History After 1500, and one other 100 level survey courses (Secondary Education coordinate majors must take all five surveys). Survey courses ideally should be taken during a student’s freshman year.

--Students should take Historical Methods as soon as they complete Comp II and their 100 level history electives.
Historical Methods is a time consuming, writing intensive course, but it is a prerequisite for ALL upper level History courses, so take it by your first semester junior year, at the latest, so you don’t have to take more than 2 upper level History courses
per semester. Since Historical Methods is a prerequisite for upper levels, putting off taking this course(or dropping out once you’re in it!), may delay your graduation.

--Seminar should be taken in the last semester of senior year or after students have completed at least 3-4 upper levels.

Global History:

--Students must take at least two global History courses. Courses on any area of the world other than the U.S. or Europe (Africa, Asia, Latin America, Middle East, and Russia) can be counted as global;
African American HistoryI and II focus on American history, so they do NOT count as
globals.

History 300-400 Electives:

--Students may take any combination of five 300 and 400 level courses.
Proseminar counts as an upper level course; students may take as many (or as few)
proseminars as they like.

Given the heavy workload in upper level History courses, we recommend that students do not take more than two upper level History courses in a semester.

Any substitutions for required History courses must be approved, in writing, by the advisement coordinator or chair.

In addition to the BA in History, the History Department offers Specializations in U.S., European/Ancient, and Global History and a 5 year B.A./M.A. program.

The specializations are essentially B.A.s in History with a specialization in a particular area.These programs, which are appropriate for students who are considering graduate school or seek more in depth study, basically require 7 upper level history courses instead of 5 and 2 years of foreign language rather than 1.Program requirements for the specializations may be found at http://www.rowan.edu/colleges/chss/departments/history/acad/index.html.

The BA/MA degree is a “4 plus 1” program where students earn both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in History in 5 years.Students should begin planning in their freshman year,
then apply for the program in their junior year; applicants must have a 3.3 GPA in their history courses.After completing undergraduate History requirements in junior year, students in this program will take 4 graduate courses as a senior at undergraduate tuition rates.The other 6 courses required for the History M.A. would be taken the following year (3 per semester) as a master’s student, allowing the student to finish both a BA and Master’s in History within 5 years. More information about the program can be found
on the department website.

Since Elementary and Secondary Education students have almost no electives to play with, they need to plan their schedules very carefully. Otherwise, the remaining 53 credits of electives can be drawn from any course offered by any department or college
at Rowan, including History.

Students should use these electives to pursue areas of interest or to further career plans. If you intend to go to graduate school in history, for example, consider pursuing the Honors Concentration and/or Foreign Languages minor. If you
intend to go to law school, consider taking additional courses in Political Science or a Political Science minor and/or an Honors Concentration; students interested in public history or who plan to enter the corporate world should think about pursuing a Minor
in Business.

History students can often earn a concentration within their required History courses, so that even students with tight programs such as Education coordinate majors can earn a concentration. The International Studies Concentration, for
example, requires 18 credits, but all History students already have 9 credits of courses that count through History Department requirements (Readings in Non-Western Lit and 2 global histories), and students who take
World Regional Geography, Cultural Geography, Cultural Anthropology etc. for their Geography/Anthropology requirement already have 12 credits. The other 6 credits can be fulfilled either through choosing additional global histories as upper levels or
taking courses in other departments that count towards the concentration. Similarly, through selecting their courses carefully, students can fulfill requirements for the Asian Studies and African-American Studies Concentrations mainly through taking courses
that also fulfill History requirements. The Women’s Studies concentration also only requires one or two courses outside of History program requirements.

For information about the specific concentrations, search that concentration from Rowan’s homepage.

If you decide to pursue a Concentration and/or Minor, be sure to declare it at the Advising Center in
Savitz and see an advisor for that program. The Minor/Concentration will be listed on your transcript.

If you stop showing up for a class and do not officially withdraw, you will receive an F in the course; you can only erase that F through retaking the same course, which may not be offered again for several semesters. The deadlines for withdrawal
(and the required signatures) are listed at the beginning of the Schedule of Classes
each semester, so if you decide to stop taking a class, be sure to complete the paperwork by the deadline.

The portfolio represents a sample of your written work; it will be due when you take Senior Seminar. Since you will be asked to copy papers you’ve written onto a disc for your portfolio,
BE SURE TO KEEP FILES WITH YOUR PAPERS ON YOUR H-DRIVE AT ROWAN OR IN A FILE ON YOUR COMPUTER AT HOME WHERE YOU CAN RETRIEVE THEM WHEN YOUR PORTFOLIO IS DUE.
If you do this, complying with the portfolio requirement will be a simple process.

For more information about the portfolio, see the History Department webpage.

The History Department allows majors to take any General Education course as Pass/No Credit. Each semester, the
Schedule of Courses includes a list of courses that may be taken pass/no credit (click on
Schedule of Courses from the Registrar’s home page,
http://www.rowan.edu/studentaffairs/registrar/, highlight the “Classes and Registration” bar on the left and click on the “Registration and Course Schedules,” click on the “Registration Information” link for the current semester, then scroll through the
booklet until you reach “Courses which allow the Pass/No Credit Grade Option,” usually in the middle of the booklet). Note that no more than 10% of credits earned may be taken P/NC.

Education coordinate majors should be sure to check with their Education advisor before taking any classes on a pass/no credit basis; both History and Education majors are allowed to take foreign language courses on a pass/no credit basis.

There are no Historycourses that can be taken pass/no credit, not even for non majors.

The History Department encourages students to Study Abroad, especially in non English speaking countries. The Study Abroad program at Rowan offers programs in dozens of countries, including non English speaking countries where students can take classes
in English. Students can study abroad for credit (and using financial aid) during the academic year and the summer. Students need to have their course selection approved by the advisement coordinator or chair in advance, but the History Department allows
majors to take history and non history courses at universities overseas so that students can enjoy the benefits of studying abroad and remain on track for graduation.